When he discovered he had run up a £3,700 bill on his father’s credit card playing games on his iPad, Cameron Crossan expected a very stern telling off at least.

The 13-year-old was mortified by what he had done – but worse was to come. For instead of punishing him, his father filed an official police complaint effectively accusing him of fraud.

Doug Crossan, 48, said he was horrified when his credit card company informed him of the amount his son had spent on the games in Apple’s online App Store.

Charges: Mr Crossan claims his son was unaware he was being charged for the in-game purchases and wants Apple to scrap the charge

Cameron could now face arrest and questioning by detectives.

But that is not the reason the
teenager was shopped. If Mr Crossan had wanted him to feel the force of
the law he could have done it himself – he is a PC with Avon and
Somerset Police. He contacted the national Action Fraud helpline in the
hope of getting his money back from Apple.

He says Cameron was unaware he was
being charged for the purchases and wants Apple to refund the cash. But
the technology giant has so far refused, so Mr Crossan believes that by
reporting the purchases as fraudulent his credit card company will have
to foot the bill.

Mr Crossan, of Clevedon, Somerset,
said yesterday: ‘I am sure Cameron had no intention to do it, but I had
to have a crime reference number if there was any chance of getting any
credit card payments refunded.

‘In theory the local police station
would contact me and ask for Cameron to come in to be interviewed. I
could make it difficult, of course, and refuse to bring him in, and they
would have to come and arrest him.’

Games: Cameron Crossan racked up more than 300 purchases on games such as Plants vs Zombies, Hungry Shark, Gun Builder and Nova 3 on the iPad

Mr Crossan logged the details of his MBNA Virgin credit card with Apple when he used his son’s device to download music.

Cameron then racked up more than 300
purchases on games such as Plants vs Zombies, Hungry Shark, Gun Builder
and N.O.V.A. 3. Many of them are free to download but users can buy
in-game extras. In one game Cameron had purchased a virtual chest of
gold coins costing £77.98.

He would have had to key in a password before each of the purchases was processed.
When his father confronted him, Cameron quickly confessed but said he
did not know it was costing money as the games were initially free.

Plants vs Zombies: One of the games Cameron purchased on the iPad

Mr Crossan said: ‘There was no indication in the game that he was being charged for any of the clicks made within it.

‘He innocently thought that, because it was advertised as a free game, the clicks would not cost anything.’

Apple has refused to cancel the
charges, citing parental responsibility and pointing out that iPads
contain password locks to prevent accidental or unwanted purchases.

Aid: Cameron has only owned the Apple tablet computer since December after he and other pupils at his school were bought them to aid them in class

But Mr Crossan said: ‘I am a father
of a studious, polite and sensible 13-year-old who has been duped after
uploading free children’s games on his iPod and iPad.

‘Our son is mortified to think that
this has happened. I wonder how many others there are in the UK that
have suffered at the hands of these apps?’

Of his decision to report Cameron to
Action Fraud, Mr Crossan said: ‘Really I just want to embarrass Apple as
much as possible. Morally, I just don’t understand where Apple gets
off, charging for a child’s game.’

A spokesman for the Home Office,
which runs Action Fraud, said last night: ‘It sounds like this would be a
matter to resolve with Apple. It doesn’t sound like a fraud has taken
place.’ Cameron could in theory end up with a criminal record as he is
over the age of ten. But a legal source doubted whether the Crown
Prosecution Service would think a prosecution was in the public
interest.

Virgin Money has declined to comment on the case.

With more than half a billion active accounts, the App Store is the most popular online marketplace in the world.

Mr Crossan is among a growing number of parents caught out by their children’s unauthorised spending on apps.

In the US, Apple is paying £66million
in compensation to parents whose children ran up huge bills. The case
is unlikely to affect British families

GROWING PROBLEM OF CHILDREN RUNNING UP HUGE ACCIDENTAL BILLS

This is by no means the first case of a parent being shocked to find their child had run up a huge bill on their computer by playing games.

Earlier this month MailOnline reported how Theo Rowland-Fry had racked up a £980 bill by buying virtual doughnuts while playing a Simpsons game.

And just last month five-year-old Danny Kitchen (pictured right), from Bristol, made 19 purchases totalling more than £1,300 for extra software to help him play the game Zombies vs Ninja.

By pressing a shopping trolley icon on the screen, Danny was offered the chance to buy extra animated ‘ammunition’. He bought dozens of in-game ‘weapons’ and ‘keys’ which cost up to £69.99 a time.

His parents were refunded after they contacted Apple.

Customers who accidentally rack up large bills on iTunes do not have an automatic right to a refund, although Apple does appear willing to return the cash on a case-by-case basis.

But in the US, the company is paying out £66million in compensation to parents whose children ran up massive bills while using its free apps.

Now, as many as 23million people are eligible for a refund. However, the decision is unlikely to affect British families.

A US legal case was triggered by a nine-year-old girl from Pennsylvania who bought $200 (£132) of 'virtual money' from three free Apple games. In a lawsuit brought by her father, the games were described as 'highly addictive' and designed to 'compel' children to buy game currency.

Under the terms of the case settlement, Apple has now agreed to offer refunds worth a total of $100million (£66million).